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| What does Boris Johnson really think of European integration? | What does Boris Johnson really think of European integration? |
| (6 months later) | |
| Now that Boris Johnson has nailed his colours to the mast in favour of severing Britain’s ties with the European Union, a guessing game that has gone on for months over whether he would back Brexit has come to an end. | Now that Boris Johnson has nailed his colours to the mast in favour of severing Britain’s ties with the European Union, a guessing game that has gone on for months over whether he would back Brexit has come to an end. |
| The intervention by Johnson, arguably Britain’s most recognisable Tory politician, is a boost for whichever out campaign (he didn’t seem too sure at his Sunday afternoon press conference outside his house) he decides to join. | The intervention by Johnson, arguably Britain’s most recognisable Tory politician, is a boost for whichever out campaign (he didn’t seem too sure at his Sunday afternoon press conference outside his house) he decides to join. |
| But after years in which Johnson has at least equivocated over, and often appeared in favour of, European integration, voters could be forgiven for wondering what the London mayor really thinks. | But after years in which Johnson has at least equivocated over, and often appeared in favour of, European integration, voters could be forgiven for wondering what the London mayor really thinks. |
| Here are five points from Johnson’s article announcing his Brexit pitch that warrant a closer look: | Here are five points from Johnson’s article announcing his Brexit pitch that warrant a closer look: |
| David Cameron has failed to reach a good deal | David Cameron has failed to reach a good deal |
| David Cameron has done his very best, and he has achieved more than many expected. [...] There is an excellent forthcoming bill that will assert the sovereignty of parliament, the fruit of heroic intellectual labour by Oliver Letwin, which may well exercise a chilling effect on some of the more federalist flights of fancy of the court and the commission. It is good, and right, but it cannot stop the machine; at best it can put a temporary and occasional spoke in the ratchet. | David Cameron has done his very best, and he has achieved more than many expected. [...] There is an excellent forthcoming bill that will assert the sovereignty of parliament, the fruit of heroic intellectual labour by Oliver Letwin, which may well exercise a chilling effect on some of the more federalist flights of fancy of the court and the commission. It is good, and right, but it cannot stop the machine; at best it can put a temporary and occasional spoke in the ratchet. |
| Johnson hailed the prime minister for doing “his very best” but Cameron may be wondering what more he could have done to satisfy the mayor. It seems that Johnson has opposed the deal despite it meeting all the conditions that he had previously set out for his support. | Johnson hailed the prime minister for doing “his very best” but Cameron may be wondering what more he could have done to satisfy the mayor. It seems that Johnson has opposed the deal despite it meeting all the conditions that he had previously set out for his support. |
| There is nothing xenophobic in wanting to leave Europe | There is nothing xenophobic in wanting to leave Europe |
| I am a European. I lived many years in Brussels. I rather love the old place. And so I resent the way we continually confuse Europe – the home of the greatest and richest culture in the world, to which Britain is and will be an eternal contributor – with the political project of the European Union. It is, therefore, vital to stress that there is nothing necessarily anti-European or xenophobic in wanting to vote leave on 23 June. | I am a European. I lived many years in Brussels. I rather love the old place. And so I resent the way we continually confuse Europe – the home of the greatest and richest culture in the world, to which Britain is and will be an eternal contributor – with the political project of the European Union. It is, therefore, vital to stress that there is nothing necessarily anti-European or xenophobic in wanting to vote leave on 23 June. |
| While there may be nothing particularly xenophobic or anti-European in wanting to leave the EU, some of those making the case for it have turned out to be both. Johnson may now find himself uncomfortable among allies such as Nigel Farage, whose views on immigration he has likened to “effluent”. When asked to comment on Farage’s suggestion that he was late for an engagement because immigration had made traffic on the M4 worse he said: “Xenophobia is like sewage, it’s a natural concomitant of the human condition.” | While there may be nothing particularly xenophobic or anti-European in wanting to leave the EU, some of those making the case for it have turned out to be both. Johnson may now find himself uncomfortable among allies such as Nigel Farage, whose views on immigration he has likened to “effluent”. When asked to comment on Farage’s suggestion that he was late for an engagement because immigration had made traffic on the M4 worse he said: “Xenophobia is like sewage, it’s a natural concomitant of the human condition.” |
| The mayor has said he won’t share a platform with Farage but he may find it hard to disassociate himself with the views of some on his side of the Brexit debate. | The mayor has said he won’t share a platform with Farage but he may find it hard to disassociate himself with the views of some on his side of the Brexit debate. |
| Scotland is likely to vote with England in an EU referendum | Scotland is likely to vote with England in an EU referendum |
| I also accept there is a risk that a vote to leave the EU, as it currently stands, will cause fresh tensions in the union between England and Scotland. On the other hand, most of the evidence I have seen suggests that the Scots will vote on roughly the same lines as the English. | I also accept there is a risk that a vote to leave the EU, as it currently stands, will cause fresh tensions in the union between England and Scotland. On the other hand, most of the evidence I have seen suggests that the Scots will vote on roughly the same lines as the English. |
| If Johnson means that both countries are likely to vote to stay, then with the pro-EU camp still holding a slim majority in England he might be right. But if his announcement that he backs Brexit is intended to swing English public opinion away from EU membership, then things look less certain. | If Johnson means that both countries are likely to vote to stay, then with the pro-EU camp still holding a slim majority in England he might be right. But if his announcement that he backs Brexit is intended to swing English public opinion away from EU membership, then things look less certain. |
| Polling by YouGov last month showed the Scotland has a near-unassailable 60% majority in favour of continued EU membership. The pollster Peter Kellner says that Scotland and London are the two parts of the UK that are most enthusiastic about a future within the EU. | Polling by YouGov last month showed the Scotland has a near-unassailable 60% majority in favour of continued EU membership. The pollster Peter Kellner says that Scotland and London are the two parts of the UK that are most enthusiastic about a future within the EU. |
| That means that an overall decision to leave the bloc in the UK could once again embolden Scottish nationalists who want to leave the UK. | That means that an overall decision to leave the bloc in the UK could once again embolden Scottish nationalists who want to leave the UK. |
| EU prevented Boris from making lorries safer for cyclists | EU prevented Boris from making lorries safer for cyclists |
| Sometimes [EU rules] can be truly infuriating – like the time I discovered, in 2013, that there was nothing we could do to bring in better-designed cab windows for trucks, to stop cyclists being crushed. It had to be done at a European level, and the French were opposed. | Sometimes [EU rules] can be truly infuriating – like the time I discovered, in 2013, that there was nothing we could do to bring in better-designed cab windows for trucks, to stop cyclists being crushed. It had to be done at a European level, and the French were opposed. |
| Johnson is well known for his cycling credentials, preferring two wheels to get around London. But at the time, his administration was blaming not the EU but the British government for blocking his efforts to make lorries safer. His cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan told a press conference in January 2014: “Boris Johnson has said directly to the government in the UK that he is deeply concerned at their view and attitude on this.” | Johnson is well known for his cycling credentials, preferring two wheels to get around London. But at the time, his administration was blaming not the EU but the British government for blocking his efforts to make lorries safer. His cycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan told a press conference in January 2014: “Boris Johnson has said directly to the government in the UK that he is deeply concerned at their view and attitude on this.” |
| “I am slightly incredulous that the government of Britain and other agencies are not on board with what ought to be a fairly non-controversial change,” Gilligan went on, adding that Johnson would fight for safe lorries “even if it means being against what his own party wants.” | “I am slightly incredulous that the government of Britain and other agencies are not on board with what ought to be a fairly non-controversial change,” Gilligan went on, adding that Johnson would fight for safe lorries “even if it means being against what his own party wants.” |
| Europe is wedded to the idea of ever-closer integration | Europe is wedded to the idea of ever-closer integration |
| There is a document floating around Brussels called the “Five Presidents Report”, in which the leaders of the various EU institutions map out ways to save the euro. It all involves more integration: a social union, a political union, a budgetary union. At a time when Brussels should be devolving power, it is hauling more and more towards the centre, and there is no way that Britain can be unaffected. | There is a document floating around Brussels called the “Five Presidents Report”, in which the leaders of the various EU institutions map out ways to save the euro. It all involves more integration: a social union, a political union, a budgetary union. At a time when Brussels should be devolving power, it is hauling more and more towards the centre, and there is no way that Britain can be unaffected. |
| Cameron says his EU deal has taken the UK out of “ever-closer union” but, until recently, Johnson was proclaiming his own confidence that Cameron would be able to find allies across Europe. Less than a year ago he was telling the readers of his Daily Telegraph column that David Cameron would find “shy Tories” all across Europe who are opposed to the same policies on immigration, regulation and benefits that worry the British public. | Cameron says his EU deal has taken the UK out of “ever-closer union” but, until recently, Johnson was proclaiming his own confidence that Cameron would be able to find allies across Europe. Less than a year ago he was telling the readers of his Daily Telegraph column that David Cameron would find “shy Tories” all across Europe who are opposed to the same policies on immigration, regulation and benefits that worry the British public. |
| “I have every confidence that our negotiators, led by David Cameron, will be able to achieve a reform that is in the interests not just of Britain but the whole of Europe,” Johnson wrote. “And that is because there are so many other EU governments who now agree – shyly, bashfully, discreetly – with so much of what we are saying.” | “I have every confidence that our negotiators, led by David Cameron, will be able to achieve a reform that is in the interests not just of Britain but the whole of Europe,” Johnson wrote. “And that is because there are so many other EU governments who now agree – shyly, bashfully, discreetly – with so much of what we are saying.” |
| New trade deals could be negotiated within two years | New trade deals could be negotiated within two years |
| We have become so used to Nanny in Brussels that we have become infantilised, incapable of imagining an independent future. We used to run the biggest empire the world has ever seen, and with a much smaller domestic population and a relatively tiny civil service. Are we really unable to do trade deals? We will have at least two years in which the existing treaties will be in force. | We have become so used to Nanny in Brussels that we have become infantilised, incapable of imagining an independent future. We used to run the biggest empire the world has ever seen, and with a much smaller domestic population and a relatively tiny civil service. Are we really unable to do trade deals? We will have at least two years in which the existing treaties will be in force. |
| Johnson invokes the spirit of the empire to claim that British officialdom is capable of much more than it has come to believe after being “infantilised” by Brussels. However, in a column just three weeks earlier the London mayor argued that the single market was “of considerable value” to UK businesses and it would take years to put new arrangements in place. | Johnson invokes the spirit of the empire to claim that British officialdom is capable of much more than it has come to believe after being “infantilised” by Brussels. However, in a column just three weeks earlier the London mayor argued that the single market was “of considerable value” to UK businesses and it would take years to put new arrangements in place. |
| An exit, he said, would have the effect of “embroiling the government for several years in a fiddly process of negotiating new arrangements, so diverting energy from the real problems of this country – low skills, low social mobility, low investment etc – that have nothing to do with Europe.” | An exit, he said, would have the effect of “embroiling the government for several years in a fiddly process of negotiating new arrangements, so diverting energy from the real problems of this country – low skills, low social mobility, low investment etc – that have nothing to do with Europe.” |